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Chelsea Block Deemed Safe After Stray Voltage Scare

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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A damaged electrical cable led to stray voltage in Chelsea on Thursday, electrifying a sidewalk grate and spreading to nearby doorknobs and manhole covers.

Sixth Avenue between West 26th and 27th streets was cordoned off while a crew worked feverishly to repair the problem, CBS 2’s Hazel Sanchez reported. Businesses were forced to close, and signs warned pedestrians to stay away.

Clendenin told Sanchez a crew cut the the service line, eliminating the source of the voltage, and the area is now considered safe.

Jason Wiseman, who walks dogs in the neighborhoods, said he wasn’t worried about the potential danger of stray voltage until now.

“I’ve never thought about it before,” he said. “I guess I’ll think about it when I walk over grates.”

Clendenin told Jones that the incident produced extremely low voltage and that the warnings were a precaution. “Not anything that anybody probably could have detected, but our instruments that we use are very sensitive. It was 1 volt.”